PlanPhilly | Commonwealth Court to rule on Church of the Assumption

Last week, attorneys for the City and for Callowhill Neighborhood Association made arguments before a panel of Commonwealth Court judges in the ongoing battle over the Church of the Assumption, a Catholic Church building at 12th and Spring Garden streets that was constructed in the 1850s and placed on the city’s historic register in 2009.

In 2010, the Philadelphia Historical Commission granted permission to demolish to the building’s owner, Siloam, a nonprofit group that serves people affected by HIV/AIDS. Since then, the case has been appealed to the Board of L&I Review, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Commonwealth Court.

The attorneys, Sam Stretton for CNA and Andrew Ross representing the Historical Commission, were given 7-½ minutes each to argue before Commonwealth Court on Thursday morning, plus some back and forth with the judges, according to Andy Palewski, who wrote the church’s nomination for historic certification. The Court’s decision could come down any time in the next one to six months, said Andy Ross.